Dan River feels the pinch in 3Q

DANVILLE,Va.— Hit by $7.9 million in plant closing costs, another $4 million in bankruptcy costs, and further squeezed by falling margins, Dan River Inc. recorded a sharply narrowed third quarter loss of $24 million, improving on a year-before deficit of $103.5 million.

Reversing an earlier string of steep declines, sales stabilized and improved by 1.4 percent, rising to $105.2 million from $103.7 million, with gains in apparel and engineered fabrics offsetting an 8 percent fall-off in home fashions sales, to $70.3 million from $76.4 million a year ago.

The company said home fashions sales "decreased in all major retail distribution channels, reflecting slow retail business conditions, expiring juvenile bedding licenses and concerns from certain customers over our Chapter 11 status."Sales to Kmart, the company's single largest home fashions customer, declined by $1.1 million.

On a more positive note, sales of apparel fabrics rebounded strongly, jumping up 29.3 percent, to $26.5 million from $20.5 million last year. And sales of engineered products shot up 23.9 percent, to $8.4 million from $6.8 million.